Charging machine



A. L. J. QUENEAU Oct. 12,1926.

CHARGING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Oct. 12' 192e. 1,602,834

, A. L. J. QUENEAU GHARGING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS oct. 12 192e. 1,602,834v

` A. L. J. QUENEAU CHARGING MACHINE 'Filed oct. 28; 1925 4 sheets-sheet 5 .Us A

Li lNvENToR ATTORN EYS Oct. 12 1926.

A. l.. J. QUENEAU CHARGING MACHINE Filed OCL. 28, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 u lllllllllllll l.

lll WN:

fil

Patented Oct. 12, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTIN L. J. QUENEAU, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

CHARGING MACHINE.

.Application led October 28, 1925.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanical charging machines and more particularly to chargin machines for charging the retorts of zinc istillation furnaces.

It is Well known that the charging of `re,- torts by hand is a verya'rduous, difficult and time consuming task. Several types of machines for mechanicall charging the retorts of Zinc distillation urnaces have been tried but for various reasons they have not been entirely successful, and therefore, the old practice of charging by hand is still followed. Among the mechanical charging f machines that` have been tried is one constructed in accordance with my prior Patents Nos. 813,021, 813,022 and 813,023 dated February 20, 1906. In that machine the charge is thrown or projected into the retorts by means of a rotary impeller. This system of charging retorts is a vast imv provement over the system of charging them by hand as each retort may be charged very quickly, but it was found in practice that the advantages derived from the quick charging of the individual retorts were' partly oset by the time consumed in moving the apparatus from onevertical row of the retorts to the next. Therefore, while 'the total time required to charge all of the retorts was considerably less than the time required to charge them by hand, yet the amount of time saved was not as'great as it should have been to make the apparatus entirely satisfactory. The time consumed in charging the retorts is a very important consideration in the operation of a commercial zinc distillation furnace.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a charging, apparatus opcrating on the same principle as that disclosed in my aforesaid patents but which is capable of charging the total number 0f retorts or other charge-receiving chambers in much less time, thereby overcoming theabove mentioned ob]e`ct1on to my former type of apparatus. v

A charging machineconstructed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying. drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section of the improved charging machine, this figure also showingin section a portion of a zinc lSerial No. 65.267.

distillation furnace to illustrate the man.- ner in whichthe-retortsare charged by the charging machine.Y

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of. the charging machine.

y Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig.. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through the impeller casing.

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. hand* Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

The apparatus shown in the drawings represents the present preferred embodiment of the invention and thereforeit will be specifically described just asit appears in t e drawings, but the apparatusI may take various other forms.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings comprises a main frame l which is mounted upon wheels 2 adapted to travel upon the trackway. 3. The trackway 3 is positioned in front of the furnace 4.. so that the entire machinemay be moved along the front of the furnace from one vertical column of. retorts to the next. The machine may be propelled along the, trackway 3 by means of a motor 5 properly geared to the traction wheels 2.

The main frame 1 is so constructed and shaped that itsupports andaccommodates a central vertically movable platform frame 6 having a platform 6. The vertically movable platform frame is guidedin the main frame on four corner posts 7Y (Fig. 3).. These posts are rigidly securedv at their upper and lower ends in the main frame and serve as guides for brackets 8f secured to the frame of the platform. At each end partly in section of the Aplatform frame there isV a lscrew threaded shaft 9 which is rigidly supported at its upper and lower. ends onthe main frame as best shownin Fig.. 2. These shafts pass through the end brackets 8 on the platform frame. Immediately below each bracket 8 there is a pinion 10 which rotates' on the shaft 9. It will be obvious from this'construction` that if the pinionslf) are rotated in either direction they will move lengthwise of the shafts 9 and thereby raise or lower the entire platform frame including the platform. simultaneously actuated'from a. common ac- The two pinions 10 aretuating shaft 11 provided with pinions 12 meshing With the pinions 10. The shaft 12 may be actuated from an electric motor 13 through suitable gearing 1,4. The actuating shaft 11 and the motor 13 are mounted on the platform and, therefore, as the platform is raised or lowered the pinions 12 remain in mesh with the pinions 10.

.lhe vertically movable platform 6 supports the impellers for charging the re torts and also the bin and the conveyors for feeding the material from the bin to the impellers. The platform also supports the motors employed for operating the con veyors and the impellers.

The impelling mechanism proper cour prises a casing 15 so shaped as to form a plurality of impeller compartments 16 and a corresponding number of conveyor tubes 17. All of the impellers are rigidly mounted upon a common actuating shaft 19 eX- tending longitudinally through the casing 15. Each impeller may comprise a hub portion 20 carrying a radially extending disc-like portion 21 on one face of Which are a plurality of impact blades 22. The edges of the blades 22 in the vicinity of the hub 2O are inclined as shown at 23 to form a relatively large space near the axis of the impeller into which the material is fed through the conveyor tube 1'?. It Will be noted that the axes of the conveyor tubes 17 are substantially parallel with the operati` ing planes of the impellers thus making it possible to employ a plurality of impeller compartments in a row and feed material simultaneously to all of them.

The impeller casing` 15 is provided With a. plurality of tangential outlet nozzles 24, there being one of these outlet nozzles for each impeller. Each nozzle 24 may have an extension 25 hingedly connected to it as shown at 26, (Figs, 1, 5 and 6) in order to bring the point of discharge of the material into closer proximity with the mouth of the retort.

rlfhe conveyor tribes communicate with a feed bin 27 and each conveyor tube 17 contains a spiral. conveyor 28 which extends to a position under the bin in such a Way that the single bin simultaneously feeds material to all of the spiral conveyors. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the spiral conveyors are connected by means of gears 29 so that they may all be rotated in unison. A motor geared to one of the conveyors, therefore, serves to operate all of them. Bet-Ween each conveyor and its corresponding actuating `gear 29 there is a magnetic clutch 31. These clutches may be controlled by any suitable means not shown in the drawings so that any one or more of the conveyors may be rendered inoperative.

It Will be noted that each spiral conveyor 23 terminates short of the discharge end of ILeoaaea the conveyor tube as shown at 32 in Fig. (3. By this arrangement the space vill at all. times be packed full of the material Whether the feed conveyor is in operation or not. The body of material in the space 32 therefore serves as a seal so as to prevent air from entering the impeller casing with the material. While it is not advisable to admit air to the impeller casings with the material, nevertheless, it may be advisable to admit through some other entrance a small regulated quantity of air to the impeller casings and this may be done by means of a plurality of check valves 33 in the casing, there being one in the vicinity7 of each impeller. There are several advantages in admitting this regulated quanity of air to each impeller compartment but the only one which it is necessary to mention herein is that it serves to break any vacuum Which might be formed by the impeller and which if not broken might act as a brake and retard the yOperation of the impeller.

The shaft 19 on which the impellers are mounted may be actuated by means of a. motor 34C which may be directly coupled With this shaft-through a flexible coupling 35.

According to the present invention the impeller casing houses atleast two impellers and is provided with at least two discharge nozzles. T he preferred number of impellcrs is four as shown in the drawings although more than four may be used if desired. lt is obvious that as many retorts may be charged simultaneously as there are impellers and outlet nozzles. The number of impellers and outlet nozzles is preferably a common divisor of the number of retorts in a horizontal row so that for a given number of movements of the main lframe along' the trackway the retorts may be charged in groups and the last group charged Will contain the same number of retorts as the other groups. This Will eliminate the necessity of rendering one or more of the impellers inoperative When charging the last group.

The operation of the entire apparatus is as follows. The bin having been filled with the material to be charged to the retorts, the main frame is moved .along the trackway until the roiv of outlet nozzles is in front of the group of retorts to be charged. It is customary to charge the upper retorts first and, therefore, at the beginning of the charging operation the platform should be in its elevated position as shown by the broken lines in F ig. 1. The impellers and conveyors are now started and the material is fed by the four conveyors into the four impeller compartments. The materialenters each impeller compartment just above the hub of the impeller and drops down into the space below the hub Where it is struck by the rapidly rotating impeller blades. The material receives' the full impact blow of the impeller blades and is thereby thrown out through the tangential outlet nozzles into the retorts. The speed of revolution of the impeller discs and the speed of revolution of the conveyors are so adjusted with respect to eachother as to furnish a resulting stream of material from each nozzle corresponding 'to the particular requirements of use; For charging retorts the speed of the parts is so regulated that the material issues from the discharged nozzles in a homogeneous column of. generally cylindrical form. It has been found in practice that an impeller of the type shown herein Will send a stream of material in a straight path- Without any material spreading over a distance varying from three to ten feet or more. As the machine shownv in the drawings comprisesfour impellers and four outlet nozzles, four retorts Will be charged at one time. When the first four retortsl are charged the impellers and conveyors are stopped, or if desired only the conveyors are stopped, and then the platform is lowered to the next horizontal row of retorts and four more retorts are charged in the manner just described. After the charging of each group of four retorts, the platform is again lowered until the entire vertical column of four retorts is charged. `The entire machine is then moved along the trackWay to the next vertical column of four retorts and the charging operation is repeated starting fromthe top of the vertical columnv and Working to- Ward the bottom. During the movement of the machine along the trackway the nozzle extensions 25 may be lifted if there is any danger of them striking projecting portions of the retort furnace, the hinges 26 being provided for this purpose. If, for any reason, it is not desired to charge one or more of the retorts in any group of four the conveyors of the corresponding impellers may be rendered inoperative, and therefore, no material Will be fed by these impellers to the corresponding retorts. This may be necessary, for instance, when one of the retorts in the group is cracked and should not be charged thus making it necessary to charge less than all four of the retorts in the group. Y

It Will now be seen that the time Which would otherwise be consumed in moving the machine along the trackway is considerably lessened. When four retorts are charged simultaneously the time consumed in moving the machine along the trackwvay is only one-fourth of what it otherwise would be. The simultaneous charging of a plurality of i retorts, therefore, greatly reduces the total time required to charge all the retorts of the furnace and this multiple charging of the retorts is made possible by the novel arrangement and relation of impellers, conveyors, feed bin and other parts of the apparatus.

While the machine was designed primarily for charging the retorts of a zinc distillation furnace, it may also be used with suitable changes, if necessary, for charging any group of charge-receiving chambers when it is desired to charge more than one of such rhambers at a time.

I claim l. Apparatus for charging retorts and the like comprising a casing, a plurality of rotary impellers housed therein and operating in substantially parallel vertical planes, a common actuating shaft on which the impellers are mounted, a conveyor for each of said impellers for feeding material thereto, the axes of the conveyors being substantially parallel with the operating planes of the impellers, and a plurality of outlet nozzles associated With said casing there b'eing one of such outlet nozzles for each impeller.

2. Apparatus for charging retorts and the like comprising a casing, a plurality of rotary impellers housed therein, a common actuating shaft on Which the impellers are mounted, a plurality of outlet nozzles associated With said casing there being one of such outlet nozzles for each impeller, a conveyor for each of said impellers for feeding material thereto and a single bin common to all of said conveyors for delivering material thereto.

3. Apparatus for charging retorts and the like comprising a casing, a plurality of rotary impellers housed therein, a common actuating shaft on which the impellers are mounted, a plurality of outlet nozzles associated With said casing there being one of such outlet nozzles for each impeller, a conveyor for each of said impellers for feeding material thereto, a single bin common to all of said conveyors for delivering material to the conveyors, actuating means for the conveyors and means forrendering any one of the conveyors inoperative.

4t. Apparatus for charging retorts and the v like comprising a charging unit, said unit including a unitary casing, at least four impellers mounted in said casing, an outlet nozzle on the casing for each impeller and a conveyor for each impeller for feeding material thereto.

5. Apparatus for charging the retorts of a retort furnace in which there exists a roW of spaced retorts, said apparatus comprising a series of rotary impelling devices each of which is adapted to impart motion to the material by impact to project it through space, said impelling devices being arranged to project the material in streams spaced apart' a distance corres ending with the spacing of the retorts, an means for simullil() llO taneously actuating said impelling` devices whereby a plurality of streams of material may he projected through space simultaneonsly into a plurality ot retorts.

6. Apparatus 1"'or ,charging the retorts ot a retort furnace in Which there exists a row oi spaced retorts, said appa 'atus comprising a charging)v unit consisting,` ot at least tour rotary impelling devices each or' which is adapted to impartmotion to the material by impact to project it through space, said impelling devices being' arranged to project the material in streams spaced apart a distance corresponding With the spacing' of the retorts, and means for siniultaneously actuating` said impelling devices whereby a plurality of streams of material may be projected through space simultaneously into a plurality of retorts.

7. Apparatus for charging retorts and the like comprising a casing', a rotary impeller housed therein, means for feeding` material to the casing.)Y said means serving to exclude the entrance of air to the casing with the material and means for admitting a small quantity of air to the easing.

8. Apparatus for charging retorts and the like comprising` a unitary casing, having a plurality ot in'lpeller compartments, an inipeller inountml in each compartment, means for tending material to cach impeller, said means serving to exclude the entrance of air to the casing` with a material and means for admitting to each impeller compartment a small quantity of air.

9. Apparatus tor charging' retorts and the like comprising a casing, a longitudinal series oi" impellers mounted in the casing'` means lor teeding material to each impeller, an actuating shaft on which all of said impellers are mounted and a driving; motor at one end of the casing' having a direct drive connection With said shaft.

In testimony whereof I attira my signature..

AUGUSTIN L. J. QUENEAV. 

